We leave the world of the folk ballads, who were typically sung in the privacy of homes, to music that was played in a social context, whenever groups of people reunited to either dance or pray together. The “social” set of the Anthology opens with a beautiful selections of fiddle tunes. The first one, with no back-up instruments, is a solo fiddle piece called “Sail Away Lady”. Played by John L. “Uncle Bunt” Stephens, a veteran old-time fiddler from Tennessee born in 1879, it represented, i quote Harry Smith, “american dance music in the period between the revolutionary and civil wars”. In those days, the “europeans settlers used the violon unaccompanied for dancing”, the banjo being introduced later in the middle 19th-century via contacts with african-americans.

-Uncle Bunt Stephens recorded only four sides for Columbia records in 1926. From this four sides, only “Left in the dark Blues” hasn’t been reedited on cd. If someone has a copy somewhere an can digitalize it, i’d be delighted to hear from him…

The Sail Away Ladies Variations

“Sail Away Ladies” is one of the most popular fiddle tune of all time, and belongs to a family of tunes that includes also “Sally Ann”, “Great big taters in Sandy Land” or “Dineo”. Its popularity is also due to the lyrics that goes with the tune, with a refrain that repeat the phrase “Sail away ladies, sail away” or ” Don’t she rock day-dee-o”. Almost every fiddler and string band has the tune in his repertoire and it is very popular among folk singers also. British skiffle singer Lonnie Donegan recorded it also under the name “Don’t you rock me Daddy-O”, making it a skiffle favorite in England in the 1950/1960’s.

-I choosed 30 variations of “Sail Away Ladies”, from fiddlers and string bands, folk and contemporary singers, and a bit of skiffle. Concerning the fiddle tunes renditions, i selected only the ones that goes under the “Sail away ladies” name or “Dineo” “Big taters in Sandy Land” names, which are all played in the same fiddle key of G. The “Sally Ann” tunes can be in D or G and sometimes A.

PART 1: FIDDLERS AND STRING BANDS

Uncle Dave Macon from Go Long Mule

Original Orchard Grass String Band (Dineo Ladies)Digital Library of Appalachia

Jody Kruskalfrom Poor Little Liza Jane

The Iron Mountain String Bandfrom Iron Mountain String Band: An Old Time Southern Mountain String band

Just cruising the web and came upon some info about Uncle Bunt Stephens. My grandmother was married to his son, Leonard. I lived with them for a while in Nashville while around 1960. Once we visited Leonard’s mother when she was in the hospital. I’m pretty sure he was from Lewisburg, TN. Leonard’s sister was married to the Davidson County, TN (Nashville) district attourney at the time. Once I asked Leonard if he ever played the fiddle. He responded that he once picked up his father’s fiddle and got a spanking for it! He didn’t try again.